Its hard to believe that its September and that summer (at least on the East Coast of the US) has come and gone but the signs are there for all to see as I look out of my window…..its getting darker earlier, the leaves are starting to turn and fall and its time for the new school year to begin.

This month, we take a look at Educating Royal Heirs. Needless to say, educating a royal heir in the year 2008 is not the same as educating an heir during the early 21st century. At the turn of the century (and at least until the mid 1950’s depending on the country) educating an heir to the throne was limited to education by private tutors in the palace and then said heir enlisting in his or her country’s armed forces.

Nowadays you might just find Ingrid, Catharina Amaila, Christian, William or Lenore in a public and/or private elementary school. Or even at a class at the University. That might have happened for their parents Haakon, Willem-Alexander, Frederick, Charles or Felipe but most likely that wasn’t the case for their grandparents. With the changing times, one must ask…what does educating an heir entail? As you will see, each country is different, and has varied its approach.

For those members who starting a new school term, parents whose children have begun a new school year and those ecstatic members who are finishing their last year of Secondary (High School), College and/or Graduate School …..We wish you a safe, happy and as always a highly educational year!

Since the August newsletter, there have been some changes in the Moderation team here at The Royal Forums, listed below is a brief recap:

It is with great sadness that we bid adieu to Avalon, Polly, Marezdote, and Kwanfan from the mod team. From time to time, real life takes a priority and unfortunately, this is one of those times. We wish them much success in their future endeavors and hope to see them return in the future!

Congratulations are in order to Iceflower, Kimebear, and TheTruth! They are now Super Moderators at The Royal Forums. All are great team players, excellent leaders and willing and able to assist whenever the need arises.

We have a new thread in the Support and Feedback forum that contains all sorts of information about TRF and also contains a copy of the Member FAQs for easy reference.

The Royal Articles

We have a new article available on The Royal Articles, Regina has written an informative article on Queen Amelia of Portugal, the last Queen of Portugal. The article can be found at Queen Amelia of Portugal.

Since we are unable to use professional photos to illustrate the articles, the editors are very interested in hearing from any members who have taken photos of royals and would be willing to have their photos used in the articles. Also, anyone who would like to try their hand at writing an article should contact one of the editors. The editors are Elspeth, Mandy, Marengo, and TheTruth.

The Royal Book Club

The book for September is Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, by Karin Palshoj and Gitte Redder. The discussion of this book will be led by GlitteringTiaras. The thread for this discussion will be posted shortly in the Royal Book Club forum.

Educating a royal heir in the year 2008 is not the same as educating an heir during the early 21st century. At the turn of the century (and at least until the mid 1950’s depending on the country) educating an heir to the throne was limited to education by private tutors in the palace and then said heir enlisting in his or her country’s armed forces.

Nowadays you might just find Ingrid, Catharina-Amaila, Christian, William or Lenore in a public and/or private elementary. Or even at a class at the University. Most heirs (unlike some of their parents) have attended public or private elementary and/or secondary schools and has attended a university. Such a concept would have been foreign in the time of King George V of Great Britain, King Alfonso IX of Spain and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands.

Join us as we look at the educational pursuits of some of the current heirs.

Bahrain
Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain, completed his high school education in Bahrain, and in 1992 went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from the American University (US) followed by a Master of Philosophy and History from Cambridge University (UK) in 1994. He has since participated in numerous seminars addressing Gulf Security issues and Middle East affairs.

Belgium
Prince Philippe was educated at the Belgian Royal Military School, which he attended in both French and in Dutch. In the 1981, Prince Phillipe graduated from the Royal Military Academy. His academic training was completed at Trinity College, University of Oxford (UK) and at the Graduate School of Standford Univeristy (USA) where he graduated in 1985 with a Master of Arts Degree in political science.

Denmark
Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark attended elementary school at Krebs' Skole as a private pupil at Amalienborg Palace from 1974-1976, and from the third form at Krebs' Skole. From 1982 to 1983, The Crown Prince was a boarder at École des Roches in Normandy, France. In 1986, Crown Prince Frederik graduated from the upper secondary school of Øregaard Gymnasium.

Under the name of Frederik Henrikesen, the Crown Prince studied political science at Harvard University (US) from 1992-1993. He then took up a position for three months with the Danish UN mission in New York in 1994. He received an MSc in Political Science from the University of Aarhus, which he completed in February 1995. The Crown Prince was posted as First Secretary to the Danish Embassy in Paris from October 1998-October 1999.

In the period 2001 and 2002, the Crown Prince completed further training for leaders at the Royal Danish Defence College. Crown Prince Frederik remains active in the defence, and in the period 2002-2003 served as a staff officer at Defence Command Denmark, and from 2003 as a senior lecturer with the Institute of Strategy at the Royal Danish Defence College.
He has completed extensive military studies and training in all three services, notably completing education as a sailor in the naval elite special operations forces.

Great BritainThe Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales was the first British heir to attend school rather than be taught by a private tutor. He first attended Hill House School in West London, and later the Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, which the Duke of Edinburgh also attended. Like, his father, he finished his education at Gordonstoun, a private boarding school in the northeast of Scotland. Much has been written about Prince Charles’s unhappy experience at Gordonstoun, where he was bullied by other students. In 1966, Charles also spent two terms at the Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. In 1967, he left Gordonstoun with two A levels, in History and French.

In the past, most British heirs have traditionally served in the armed forces, after finishing school. Charles, however, in another break with tradition, attended Trinity College, Cambridge. At Trinity, he read anthropology and archaeology, and later history, earning a 2:2 (lower second class)Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree on 23 June1970, making Charles the third member of the Royal Family to earn a university degree. In 1975, the Prince was awarded an MA (Cantab) degree.

In addition to his time at Trinity, Charles attended the Old College, part of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, for one term where he studied the Welsh language and Welsh history. The intention was specifically to learn the Welsh language, and as such he was the first English-born Prince of Wales ever to make a serious attempt to do so. He subsequently learnt enough to be able to deliver his investiture speech in Welsh.

JapanCrown Prince Naruhito received his primary and secondary education at the Gakushuin School (the Peers School), where all members of the imperial family are educated. The Gakushuin School system provides education from kindergarten through university to the children of the aristocracy and well-connected commoners. Emperor Hirohito and Emperor Akihito were also pupils there, although after the Second World War Prince Akihito was given private lessons in English by an American tutor, Elizabeth Gray Vining, whose remit also included introducing the Prince to western culture. Emperor Akihito did not travel abroad to study. In order to give his heir some experience of other cultures, he arranged for 14-year-old Naruhito to spend a week in Australia living as part of an Australian family.

On graduating from school, Naruhito entered Gakushuin University, where he studied history, unlike most of the other members of his family who specialized in biological sciences. After graduation, he spent a year at Merton College, Oxford (UK), studying for a Master's degree. His research topic was transport on the Thames in the 18th century. According to his memoirs, he also spent a good deal of time traveling and engaging in social activities during his time in England. He returned to Gakushuin University to continue his studies and submitted his thesis three years later. While Prince Naruhito is not the first member of the Japanese royal family to study abroad, he is the first heir to the throne to do so. It is probable that Prince Hisahito will follow his uncle (and his father, Naruhito's younger brother) through the Gakushuin School and University system and then abroad for postgraduate study.

JordanWhile there is no official heir “on record” it is widely assumed that King Abdullah’s son, Prince Hussein bin al-Abdullah born in 1994 would be the probable choice for this position.

Liechtenstein
Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein, like his father, attended primary school in Vaduz-Ebenholz and Liechtenstein Grammar School. In 1987, he graduated with an advanced level diploma (Type B, literature and history). Like many of his contemporaries, he attended the Royal Military Academy at Standhurt (UK) where he completed his officer training. After being commissioned Second Lieutenant, he served six months with the Coldstream Guards in Hong Kong and London.

In 1988, Hereditary Prince Alois enrolled as a law student at Sazlburg University, where in the spring of 1992 he graduated with a Master’s degree. From 1993 to 1996, he worked for an auditing firm in London . Since 1993, he has returned to live in Vaduz and is responsible for various sections of the assets of the Princely House.

The NetherlandsWillem-Alexander, the Prince of Orange, received his primary education at the Nieuwe Baarnse School in Baarn and started his secondary education at the Baarns Lyceum. He continued his secondary education at the Eerste Vrijzinnig Christelijk Lyceum in The Hague, and completed it at Atlantic College in Llantwit Major, Wales, where he gained an International Baccalaureate in 1985.

After completing his military service, the Prince enrolled as a history student in the Arts Faculty of Leiden University in 1987. This gave the Prince a wide-ranging knowledge of a broad spectrum of subjects, including general and Dutch history, economic history, political science and constitutional law, EC law, international law, human rights and economics.

The Prince concluded his studies with a dissertation on the Dutch response to France’s decision under President de Gaulle to leave NATO’s integrated command structure. He was awarded a degree in history in 1993.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, completed his upper secondary education at Kirstein Gymnasium in Oslo in 1992. In 1995 he graduated from the RoyalNorwegianNavalAcademy in Bergen, followed by a year aboard missile torpedo boats and other vessels.

In the fall of 1996 he moved to the USA to study at the University of California at Berkeley, and received his BA in political science in the spring 1999. In 2000, the Crown Prince was a member of Norway’s third delegation to the UN General Assembly. The Crown Prince later attended lectures at the University of Oslo and took the Norwegian Ministry Foreign Affair’s civil servant introductory course in 2001. In 2003, he competed his education at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was awarded an MA in development studies, specializing in international trade and Africa.

SwedenCrown Princess Victoria of Sweden is the only female heir apparent currently in the world and upon her accession she will be Sweden’s third queen regnant. Victoria attended a state elementary and in 1996 she graduated from a private secondary school in Stockholm. During the 1996-1997 school term, she studied at Université Catholique de l'Ouest at Angers in France and in the fall of 1997 Victoria followed a special program following the work of the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament). During the years 1998-2000, she interned at the Swedish Embassy in Washington DC (May 1999) and attended Yale University in the United States.

In 2000, Victoria studied conflict resolution and international peacekeeping at the Swedish National Defence College and in 2001 followed the Swedish presidency of the EU and completed a study program at the Government Offices (Rosenbad). In the spring of 2002, the Crown Princess completed a completed a study program with the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and in the fall of 2002, she interned at the Swedish Trace Council's offices in Berlin and Paris. In 2003 the Crown Princess' education continued with visits to Swedish businesses, a study and intern program in agriculture and forestry, as well as completing the basic soldier training at SWEDINT (the Swedish Armed Forces International Centre).

In the fall of 2004 Victoria continued with courses in political science, international relations and conflict resolution at the Swedish National Defence College. In 2005 she continued with private tutored studies in society related subjects as well as some courses at the Stockholm University. In the fall of 2006 Victoria enrolled in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' Diplomat Program, running from September 2006 to June 2007. The program is a training program for young future diplomats and gives an insight to the ministry's work, Swedish foreign and security politics and Sweden's relations with the rest of the world.